Arkansas State adds Michigan to 2020 football schedule

JONESBORO — Arkansas State University’s athletics department officially announced Thursday its football team added a road game against 11-time national champion Michigan to its schedule in 2020, when the Red Wolves will face the Wolverines for the first time in school history.

Arkansas State would become just the second Sun Belt Conference program to ever play Michigan with the two teams scheduled to meet on Sept. 19, 2020, in Ann Arbor at Michigan Stadium, the largest stadium in the nation with an official seating capacity of 107,601. Appalachian State played the Wolverines in both 2007 and 2014, but was a member of the Southern Conference at the time of the initial meeting between the two teams.

“This will be an exciting opportunity for our program to play one of the most highly recognized and respected college-football brands in the nation,” said Terry Mohajir, Arkansas State director of athletics. “It also puts our program on display on one of the largest stages in the world at Michigan Stadium, while additionally presenting our fan base that can travel to the game a chance to have a memorable experience with the Red Wolves.”

Appalachian State defeated Michigan, 34-32, on Sept. 1, 2007, as a Division I-AA team and a member of the Southern Conference on the way to a third consecutive I-AA national championship. The Mountaineers became the first Division I-AA football team to defeat a Division I-A team ranked in the AP poll.

The addition of Michigan gives Arkansas State three scheduled non-conference opponents on its 2020 schedule. The Red Wolves are also scheduled to play at Memphis on Sept. 5 and host Tulsa on Sept. 26 at Centennial Bank Stadium.

Not only will Arkansas State face Michigan for the first time, but the game will mark the first for the Red Wolves in the state since playing Central Michigan in 1981. Arkansas State also played road games at Eastern Michigan in 1976 and Western Michigan in 1968.

Arkansas State filed a lawsuit in February against the University of Miami for $650,000 in damages after the Hurricanes declined to reschedule a football game canceled in September because of concerns related to Hurricane Irma. The canceled game was the second scheduled in a two-game series that saw the Red Wolves play in Miami in 2014.

Michigan agreed to pay the University of Arkansas $2 million in 2016 to cancel a two-game agreement with the Razorbacks to reschedule games with rival Notre Dame. Arkansas was scheduled to open the upcoming season in Ann Arbor before hosting the Wolverines to start the 2019 season. The games were first scheduled in 2012.

Michigan also announced Thursday it canceled a homeand-home series with Virginia Tech scheduled for 2020-21. The university terminated a signed contract between the two schools and will pay a $350,000 cancellation fee. The Wolverines are scheduled for a separate home-and-home series with Washington in 2020-21.

Arkansas State is scheduled to begin the 2018 season at home against Southeast Missouri State on Sept. 1.